Until the End of Time
by the-salt-monster
Summary: Regulus Black had always wondered about Noelle Keller and why things couldn't be different. Maybe it was his time to learn. Set in Regulus' fourth year. RegulusXOC
1. Prologue

I can still remember the first time I saw her. It was a dreadfully long time ago, yes, but the memory still lingers. It was fall of my first year. Although it was frightfully cold for that time of year, I remember quite distinctly spotting her wearing an old t-shirt and ragged and frayed jeans.

I stared at her for quite a while, my breath fogging up the glass of the compartment I was situated in at the time. She was standing very alone in her odd outfit; her head held high with a certain amount of haughtiness needed to get by in the city. But I could see through her shield. I'm positive only I could see that she was afraid, lonely, and frail behind the faux confidence she portrayed.

The train whistle blew and she scrambled to get onboard, letting down her guard just enough so that I could see the fear in her watery eyes. At the same time, my cousin, Bellatrix, walked into my compartment, sitting down as if she was welcome. She proceeded to tell me everything about Hogwarts, but I only half-heartedly listened. Instead, I watched as the girl walked from compartment to compartment, searching for a place to sit.

She walked by the compartment that my conceited cousin and I occupied. For a moment—a single, fleeting moment—our eyes met. Grey to grey; they seemed to find each other on their own. And that's how it would be until the end of time.


	2. Chapter 1

She was the Ravenclaw. I was the Slytherin. I couldn't explain myself to you even if I wanted to. I was too complicated; too wrapped up in my own family matters and affairs to take much notice of what the stress was doing to my body. By fourth year, I was as pale and gaunt as one of the Inferi that were rumored to be controlled by the dark lord.

Yet there she was. Every Charms class, she would come in the classroom as quiet and timid as ever. Our eyes met for a brief moment as they always tended to do; a silent hello said between two shades of gray.

She would sit on the other side of the room. We had never spoken, being from two rival houses. But, in a way, our eyes did all the talking for us. And, oh, how many things I saw through those eyes. I witnessed pain, anger, joy, and fear through those eyes, each time surprising me with the vividness of her sense of right and wrong.

That particular day, when the sky had turned from light blue to icy, November silver, Professor Flitwick assigned a rather tedious project to each of us, assigning us partners in the same breath. I was paired with her.

Our eyes locked as he called our names, and I could see fear as well as eager curiosity in her intriguing eyes. Several girls crowded around her, however, breaking our contact. They whispered excitedly to her, sometimes glancing in my direction.

The bell rang loudly in my ears, and I stood up from my desk, as if in a dream, and walked to the Slytherin dormitories to put my school books away and go to lunch. I was surprised to find the grey-eyed Ravenclaw sitting at the Slytherin table. Her eyes were darting about nervously. Bellatrix leaned over to her and said something my ears could not quite pick up, but I'm sure it was unpleasant by the way her mouth cured up into a nasty smile. Walking more quickly than what was normal for me, I came behind the Ravenclaw girl and placed lightly a hand on her shoulder.

"End of the table," I said quietly, when she looked up at me quickly. I turned to my cousin. "Leave her alone, Bellatrix."

I followed her to the less occupied end of the table and sat across from her. She sat there very timidly, not touching any of the food in front of her, while I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.

"What did she say to you?" I asked her gently after an awkward silence. She glanced up at me, uncertainty shining in her grey eyes, but she quickly looked away, muttering something I couldn't hear. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "could you repeat that?"

"She was being prejudiced," she repeated more clearly, but still not meeting my eyes. I felt my own eyes fall to the table, embarrassed for my cousin's actions towards a girl she barely knew.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled and more silence ensued. She looked up at me after a while and our eyes met as they often seemed to do.

"It's not your fault; I should be sitting at my own table…which I'll go do now, if there are no objections." She got up to leave, but I caught her wrist.

"Don't—don't leave," I urged. Her eyes turned from fear to warmth I had yet to see from her. She smiled slightly and sat back down. "So," I said, suddenly business-like, "the project."

She sighed. "I guess we must discuss that."

"What else is there to discuss?" I asked, a bit harsher than necessary. Her eyes flashed with fear for a mere second, and I realized what I had said. "Sorry," I said quickly, and her eyes returned to the warmth I now so dearly longed for them to perpetually portray. "I'm Regulus Black," I said, holding out my pale hand. She glanced at it for a moment before taking it. Her skin was warm and it contrasted deeply with mine.

"Noelle Keller," she said softly, "but you can call me Ell."

I frowned. "I like Noelle better." She shrugged a bit and smiled, as if holding in a laugh.

"What?" I asked. As if her smile was like an infectious disease, I soon found myself smiling with her.

"Nothing," she murmured, but kept smiling.

"No, tell me," I insisted, trying to sense what those eyes found so amusing. I couldn't help but smile, something that did not happen very often. I noticed that some of my classmates had acknowledged that fact, also, and many of them were looking at me curiously from other parts of the table.

"Is it about a Ravenclaw sitting at a Slytherin table?" I asked bemusedly. I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed, but then I felt as if I would burst any moment with a sound that was so unfamiliar to me. She shook her head to my question.

"Ravenclaw girls are more accepting to charming Slytherin gentlemen with quick wits than others are; it makes us special. I just feel like I've known you for a long time, but, in actuality… I haven't." She said this so simply, as if it could fall from the tongue of anyone, but never had I heard that said before outside of books.

"Yes, well, there are stereotypes for Ravenclaw girls as there are for everyone," I said quietly, my smile fading a bit at nearly the same time as hers. "Ah, yes, Ravenclaw girls," I whispered, "The most sought after in all of Hogwarts, I'd say." She smiled again at this and I found that we were both leaning slightly towards each other. She seemed to notice that, too and quickly blushed and leaned back. I stayed where I was.

"So—so the project," she muttered, her eyes refusing to meet mine. "We must start on that."

"The lunch table is no place to be discussing graded projects; too cliché," I said, finally leaning back in my seat and regaining my natural haughtiness. "We do, however, need to overcome house differences and try to get along. I say we meet at the library after dinner tonight—and try not to be late."

"Yes, of course," she said confidently, her blush fading back to her normal pallor. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Black." She got up to leave, her eyes hard with something I couldn't quite place.

I watched her walk to the Ravenclaw table with same haughtiness, but as soon as her back was turned, I left the Great Hall. I didn't believe I had done anything wrong at the time, but I had to leave.

As I trudged back to the Slytherin common room, I couldn't help but repeat her name in my head; her grey eyes seemed to haunt me as I did so. _Noelle,_ I thought. _Noelle…_

**Authors note: In my profile I say I hope I don't get distracted by any minor stories. I guess this one just had to pop up in my mind right after I posted that. Anyway, I actually plan on finishing this fan fiction, though it may not be very long. I'm thinking five more chapters plus an epilogue. Feel free to review! I'd love to hear what you think!**


	3. Chapter 2

She was in the library after dinner, just as she said she would be. In fact, I was the one who was late. And she told me so as soon as I found her, huddled in the corner of a row of books.

"You're late," she said coolly, as if I hadn't realized.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Keller," I replied in the same manner. She glared up at me with her grey eyes, but they did not look angry as she had obviously hoped they would. They looked kind and somewhat sad.

"No need to beg, Mr. Black," she said softly, turning back to look through the spines of several books. When she found one particularly appealing, she would take it out gently and open the cover, flip through several pages, and hand it to me to look through. I was uninterested in many of the books, rarely telling her, though.

We stayed there for a long time, looking through what seemed like thousands of books. She and I rarely talked, being too occupied with the immense volumes of charms. But every now and then, our eyes would meet and I could almost see her soul through those eyes. I wondered if she could see mine the same way, and if she could, what she would find there.

Over time, the library got very quiet, but neither Noelle nor I seemed to notice until I glanced at my wrist watch and saw that it was quite late.

"Miss Keller," I said, trying to remain calm, "do you have an idea how late the library stays open?"

"Around eight-thirty or so. Why do you ask?" She seemed unaware of how much time we had spent looking through books. I felt my left eye twitch involuntarily. It was past ten o'clock.

"We might want to get going, then," I said a bit hoarsely, pulling her arm away from the spine of a book. She turned around and frowned at me, her eyes questioning. I pulled out my watch once again and showed it to her. Her eyes widened and her face paled.

"We need out get out of here," she breathed, grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the door to the library. It was locked. I walked forward to bang on the door and yell for help, but she held me back. "Filtch'll get us," she whispered. "We're stuck."

I turned to her with eyes full of agony. "Please tell me you're kidding," I said quietly but insistently. She shook her head slowly and pressed her back up against the wall, sliding down until she was in a sitting position. I did the same next to her.

"You realize, of course, that this is all your fault," I said. She made a gagging noise and turned her head to stare incredulously at me.

"_My_ fault?" she said in a furious whisper. "If _you_ had said something sooner, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Don't give me some lame excuse!" I said in the same tone. "You're the one who insisted on looking through every book imaginable!"

She turned away from me, her shoulders slightly hunched. All hostility I had felt melted away like snow would on a warm spring day. I put a gently hand on her shoulder and she turned back towards me. Her eyes were watery and red. Our eyes met and we both had the same expression on our faces. An expression of sorrow and fear of what was yet to come, but a warmth that was inexplicable.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, my hand still on her shoulder. "This is entirely my fault. I'm sorry."

I took my hand off her shoulder and placed it on her hand that was resting on her knee. "It's okay," was all I could manage.

I couldn't explain myself around her. It was as if our emotions were linked somehow. She showed what she felt so openly, it was as if she trusted everyone with her emotions and they had no way to deal with them but take them on themselves. She was different than anyone I had ever met, of that I am certain.

We stayed silent for awhile; the only light was coming from the dying flame of the oil lamp Noelle had placed beside her. It made eerie shadows of her eyelashes on the wall beyond.

"Do you know when the library opens tomorrow, Miss Keller?" I asked.

After a long pause, she replied: "Around nine, I believe; and please, call me Noelle."

I nodded. "As you wish, Noelle." She smiled through her tears and I smiled along with her. Slowly, she turned herself towards me.

"Regulus—do you mind if I call you that?" she asked quietly.

"Not at all," I said. "In fact, I've gotten bored with our formal language. It's nice to know I'm conversing with another human being and not a teacher." I smiled at her and she smiled back. I couldn't carry on like that with a Slytherin; only a Ravenclaw girl would be willing to talk to me like that.

"Yes, well, Regulus," she said, "I'm sorry about what happened, but, since we're stuck here as it is, shouldn't we still be working on our project?"

I frowned with a slight trace of disgust. "That project doesn't seem to agree with me for some unknown reason," I said, yawning.

"Or is it the library that doesn't agree with you; I've noticed that that seems to be the case with the Black family," she muttered, a smile playing on her lips. I shot her a quick, sarcastic glare, but she continued to smile. "Yes," she whispered, "I believe that's the case."

"Just keep telling yourself that, Noelle," I said, smirking and closing my eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Just keep telling yourself."

She laughed quietly. "Don't worry, I will."

**Author's note: Yay, second chapter! Thanks for the reviews, although I really would like to see more. They make me happy! So…review and continue to read, please!**

**~Salty**


	4. Chapter 3

I woke the next morning by a gentle shake on the shoulder. "Regulus," Noelle whispered. "Wake up! It's eight-thirty and we've to figure out how to hide."

I opened my eyes a crack. I was in a rather uncomfortable position; half sitting, half lying down. She was leaning over me, her hand still upon my shoulder. Her hair was disheveled and there were dark circles under her eyes where her make up had rubbed off. I could only assume that I looked similar.

"Hide?" I groaned, sitting up with a great effort. "Why would we need to hide?"

She frowned. "Well, if Madam Pince waltzes in and finds us at the foot of the door, we'd be in an inordinate amount of trouble."

"Wouldn't we have earned the 'inordinate' amount of trouble?" I said with a smirk. She tried to glare at me, but ended up laughing. And I laughed with her.

It was the first time I had laughed in years, of that there was no doubt. It felt so unfamiliar, however; as if a weight had been lifted off my chest. I was addicted to the feeling like a smoker would be addicted to nicotine.

"I've seen you do a lot of things, Mr. Black," Noelle commented after we finished laughing, "but I have never seen you laugh. That is a new one for the records." She smiled warmly and stood up, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me with her.

"So I was thinking we should hide in the fiction part of the library, as it's the last row before the restricted section, she continued, dragging me along as she walked down the aisles of books.

"Why not hide in the restricted section?" I asked.

We neared the fiction row of dusty books and Noelle stopped and pointed at the rusty gates that opened to the restricted section. "Those gates are extremely loud when opened or closed. I wouldn't want to chance getting out of there not heard."

I was about to nod my head in realization, when the sound of a key turning in a lock made us scurry into the row of books, cowering in the corner. The sound of shuffling feet, another door being unlocked, opened, and closed passed in silence as we held our breath.

Finally, after a few minutes of only our heavily beating hearts was heard, we crept out of the row, down the aisle, and out of the library. The heavy door closed with a gentle _thud_, and we held our breath once again to hear if anyone had heard it, but no one had. Both sighing tremendous breaths of relief, we nearly ran down the hallways to the Great Hall.

We neared the hall and stopped. "Thank you, Miss Keller, for helping us get out of that situation," I said, holding out my hand. She smiled and took it.

"You're very welcome, Mr. Black; anytime." She started to walk into the hall but I called after her.

"Same time later this evening?" I asked. She turned her head towards me but kept walking. "Provided that I keep better track of time, of course," I added hastily. She grinned and nodded. And, just like that, she was out of my sight.

Not in the mood for breakfast, I sat on the first stair of the Grand Staircase and thought a while. I couldn't place my finger on what exactly it was about her that seemed for different but yet so familiar to me. I figured it was the eyes that haunted me like the Bloody Baron haunted Slytherin house. They followed me even when I was quite alone.

Before I knew it, I was being shaken awake again, except it was more gruffly than before. "Hey, Black! Get your sorry ass up!" My eyes flew open to find my older brother, Sirius, and his friends standing over me. "What the hell happened to you, Reg? You look like shit!"

I groaned and sat up again, my back extremely stiff. "Shut up, Sirius, that's not proper language," I muttered. James Potter and Sirius looked at each other and grinned.

"Oho!" James said, looking as if Christmas had come early. "Looks as if little Reg has got himself a Ravenclaw girlie!" My eyes widened in horror.

"Ra—Ravenclaw _girlie_?" I stuttered incredulously. Sirius smirked.

"You really think no one saw you at lunch yesterday?" Sirius said. "All smiley and giggly, right guys?" Peter Pettigrew nodded eagerly, Remus Lupin rolled his eyes, and James made kissing noises. "And now you're suddenly obsessed with grammar."

James bent forward. "It wears off over time, don't worry," he said in a stage whisper and winked. The others laughed, even Remus, who I had always considered the nicest of the four.

"I had a Charms project with her," I muttered, "now leave me alone." I tried to push past them, but Sirius stepped in front of me no matter which way I went.

"Which brings me to my next question," he continued. "Why are you so tired?" James and Peter burst out with laughter and Sirius grinned at some joke I didn't seem to understand.

"I was working on the project with her, what else did you think we were…" Realization at their sick joke dawned on me. "Oh, you sick minded _creeps_!" I yelled and tried to push past them again but Sirius grabbed hold of my shoulders and pushed me back.

"Don't think you're going to get away that easily," he said. Fuming, I reached into my robes and whipped out my wand, pointing it right between his eyes.

"You had better take that back," I said dangerously, anger bubbling inside me, "or, so help me, you will take that to the grave." Sirius leaned back and eyed the tip of my wand cautiously before taking out his own and motioning for his friends to do the same.

This wasn't going to turn out well…

**Authors note: Ah…I'm not really sure what to say about this chapter other than it's my least favorite one. Something about it didn't really work for me… Anyways, I was sick today and decided to post because I had nothing better to do. So review! Make me feel better!******


	5. Chapter 4

"Like your friends could do anything to me," I sneered, watching as Sirius and his friends all took their wands out. I pointed my wand at Pettigrew, who cowered at the sight of it pointed at him. "He can't even transfigure a toothpick. What's he supposed to do, poke me?" I laughed. It was cruel and evil, most unlike the laugh when I was with Noelle.

I pointed my wand at James Potter. "Potter's more concerned with his hair and Quidditch than with his studies," I leered at him.

Then I pointed to Remus Lupin. "If Snape is correct, there's a full moon tonight, Lupin. Not feeling your best right now, are you, _werewolf_?"

That was it. Sirius snapped. With a loud yell, he lunged towards me, sending a punch aimed right at my jaw and proceeded to beat up every inch of me he was able to. After seeing stars from the first blow, I was only able to fight back feebly. Through the sound of James cheering Sirius on, however, I could distinctly hear a familiar high pitched screaming.

"Get off of him!" I could hear Noelle shriek. "Let _go_ of me, Lupin!"

Beside my head, a pair of black Mary Jane's could be seen before a yell from Sirius stopped James' encouragement.

"Arg! Get her off! Get her!" he screamed. More yelling and screaming ensued, both from Noelle and Sirius. Finally, Sirius got off of me and I scrambled to find my wand, which had fallen down the stair. When I had found it, I immediately pointed it at James, who still had his.

I heard a yell to my right and looked around. There were Noelle and Sirius. Noelle was standing up, though leaning against the wall, and was holding Sirius by the hair, her wand pointed at the side of his head. All Sirius could do was struggle against her grasp.

"Put the wands down," she said dangerously, her eyes fierce with anger I had never seen before. Neither James nor I followed her request. "PUT THE WANDS DOWN!" she yelled, moving her wand closer to the side of Sirius' head. James and I looked at each other, nodded in a silent agreement, and lowered our wands and she released Sirius.

There were footsteps coming down the stairs behind us. Sirius and I looked up, only to find our cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa both smirking.

"Well, well," Bellatrix said, "the great Sirius Black has finally met his match: a girl." Sirius growled as Narcissa and Bellatrix laughed mercilessly.

"Not just any girl," I continued, wiping the blood off the corner of my mouth where Sirius had hit me, "a younger one, to be exact."

Sirius looked as if he'd like a rematch, but Lupin and Potter held him back. "Come on Sirius," Lupin said, "let's go before McGonagall shows up." Sirius shook his friends off and nodded before turning around and walking away.

"Well, don't get into any more trouble while we're gone," Narcissa said nonchalantly as she and Bellatrix walked towards the Great Hall for a late breakfast. She seemed more excited at the fact that Sirius had been beaten, than the fact that her younger cousin was bleeding.

I glanced at Noelle who still held her wand and looked more disheveled than ever. "Noelle…?" I asked softly. She turned to me, her eyes horrified and threatening to spill over with tears. I walked over to her and, surprising even myself, hugged her. Her shoulders shook from the sobs which were escaping now and then from her lips.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I've just never been in a fight before; it scared me, I guess."

After we had parted, she looked me up and down and told me I needed to go up to the Hospital Wing. I could see that some blood had accidentally fallen on the shoulder of her white shirt. I walked with her to the Hospital Wing, talking a bit as we did so.

"So…what happened?" she asked. I grimaced a bit, which hurt my bruised jaw.

"My brother was being a prat," I muttered, barely moving my lips for fear of hurting my jaw again. "He said some things that provoked me so I turned my wand on him and he beat me up." I left out some details that I was sure she wouldn't care to hear.

"Oh, that's terrible!" she gasped. "And to think, all because you're not in Gryffindor!" I nodded sadly. After all, was that not the reason he was so horrible to me? Wasn't he mad at me because he felt I had become the favorite of Mother and Father's?

"So what happened with _you_ back there?" I asked, trying to smile, but my jaw wouldn't allow it. "You seemed to go Princess Leia on us back there." She smiled a bit and shrugged.

"I'm not really sure myself," she whispered. "I guess I went over board, didn't I? And where have you heard of Princess Leia?"

I shrugged with her. "Who knows? If you hadn't done that, I might've gotten beaten up worse. So the answer to your second question, my brother went to see Star Wars with his friends." She smiled at me, her grey eyes sparkling.

We neared the Hospital Wing and she opened the door for me. I nodded my thanks and walked inside. Madam Pomfry, the nurse, was sitting at a wooden desk at the end of the hall. When we walked in, she started and stood up quickly. When she got a look at my face, however, she started to walk towards us more quickly.

"Oh, good Lord," she muttered while wiping the blood off of my face and fixing my jaw, "you Black's _do_ have a tendency to get hurt, don't you?"

I shrugged and permitted her to rub a paste over my black eye and give us both a pass to our first class. We left together, but had to part at the Transfiguration hallway where Noelle had her first class.

"Will I see you at lunch?" I asked her before she went too far down the hallway to hear me.

"No," she replied, "I've to change clothes and wash up, as we weren't able to before classes began." She smiled again at me and turned into her classroom, leaving me to walk to the Greenhouses alone and in silence.

**Author's note: yeah, I'm a bit annoyed that no one's reading this. But, you know, its okay because I'm doin' what I love! Still sick…missed Science Fair Regionals because I lost my voice… So review and make me feel better! **


	6. Chapter 5

I looked for Noelle during Charms, but she never showed up. It wasn't usual for a student to miss a class taught by their head of house. It was just something that never happened.

I hadn't expected to see her at lunch-- and I was correct in not getting my hopes up-- but when I didn't see her at dinner either, I started to worry.

When I saw a group of Ravenclaw girls get up to leave their table, I left my own untouched plate of food and went after them. "Excuse me," I called. A few turned around to see who was calling, but when they saw that it was a Slytherin, they turned on their heels and kept going.

"Excuse me!" I called even louder. "Do any of you know a fourth year by the name of Noelle Keller?" They turned around enough for me to see their eyes roll, but one girl stopped for me. She had long dark brown hair with pink cheeks that were obviously the result of an artificial make up product.

"I think I can help you with that… for a price," she said, smirking. I rolled my eyes and asked what she wanted in exchange for some information. She grinned mischievously and continued. "You're Sirius Black's brother, right?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," I confirmed. I could see where this was going.

"Well, I'll tell you about Ell Keller if you tell your brother about me, okay?" I groaned internally. I had gotten a lot of requests like that since I had started Hogwarts. I only nodded and she proceeded to run through a list of things about her and all of the things she liked, which turned out to be chocolate roses, kisses, and kittens among other miscellaneous items.

"Do you think you got all that?" she asked after several minutes of only her talking.

"Yeah," I answered impatiently, mentally discarding all of the information she had told me, as there was no way I was going to even look at Sirius for a long time. "Can you tell me about Noelle now?"

She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at me. "She says she doesn't feel good, so she's staying in her dormitory for the rest of the day." Then she left me in the middle of the corridor. I sighed deeply in defeat and headed back to the Slytherin common room.

Jeremy Zabini challenged me to a game of wizard's chess, which kept my mind busy for a while, but Jeremy was so horrible, it didn't really take long for me to beat him five times in a row. "You wanna play again?" he asked eagerly. I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm kind of hungry, I think I'll go to the kitchens and find some food." I stood up from the emerald armchair.

"You want some company?" he asked. "I know from experience that it can get pretty lonely there, when the only life forms are house elves." He wrinkled his nose and made to get up and follow me.

"Nah, it's fine, Jeremy," I said quickly. I wasn't really hungry; I just needed some time to think. "I'll be okay." He shrugged and sat back down.

I left the common room and made my way to the portrait of the big fruit bowl. I tickled the pear in just the right place and stepped into the opening that appeared when it giggled and squirmed.

When I stepped in, however, I found a familiar Ravenclaw sitting cross-legged on the linoleum floor and reading the evening "Prophet."

I sat down beside her and read over shoulder. More Muggle killing by the Dark Lord. Just the type of news I didn't want to hear at a time like this. She glanced up at me while turning pages and raised her eyebrows slightly. "They're bringing me some coffee," she said matter-of-factly, as if I had been there all along, "would you like any?"

I smiled down at her. "No, I'm fine, thank you." She shrugged lightly and leaned a bit into me as she started to read the next page. "Are you feeling better?" I asked, but she was brought her coffee by an eager looking house elf and became distracted.

"Would you like any thing, Sir?" the house elf asked me in a squeaky, high-pitched voice. I glanced at Noelle and she grinned slightly.

"Would you happen to have any chocolate chip cookies and milk?" she asked with a playful smile at me. I was a bit confused. Cookies; Milk; why would she ask for such things?

The house elf just smiled broadly and nodded its head. "Of course, Miss! Students are always asking for things such as those!" It bounded off with its ears flapping.

"What are those for?" I asked after it had left.

She shrugged. "Cookies and milk always remind me of my family. Don't they just bring back memories from when you were younger?" She smiled. I grimaced.

"I try not to think of my childhood," I replied. "They're not exactly my fondest memories." Sure, there was the time Sirius and I had dressed Kreacher up like a ballerina, but I was mad at Sirius at the moment and didn't want to bring it up.

"Do you mean to tell me that you've never had chocolate chip cookies and milk before?" she asked incredulously. I tried to think back. I scanned all of my memories of breakfast, lunch, and dinner and never even found mention of cookies or milk.

"No," I answered her truthfully. "I don't believe I have." She raised her eyebrows and shook her head in amazement and awe while the house elf came back with a plate of warm cookies and two glasses of milk.

"Well, I guess this'll be a new experience for you then, Mr. Black," she said with a smile as she picked up a cookie on the top and handed it to me.

**Author's note: Yays! I got reviews! Fifty points to the house of your choice for those of you who did/do review! I really liked this chapter because Reg pretty much came alive in the story and added some humor. (I'm feelin' better by the way, so I'll be updating sooner!)**

**~Salty**


	7. Chapter 6

I held the cookie in the palm of my hand. It was warm and smelled delicious. Noelle bit her bottom lip and gave me an expectant glance; I gave her a questioning look in return.

"Well?" she asked, raising and eyebrow. "Are you just going to stare at it?" Actually, it didn't sound like a bad idea, though I didn't dare tell her that for fear of my sanity. I shrugged instead.

"What am I _supposed_ to do with it?" I asked. She laughed. I loved her laugh; I really did. It wasn't painfully high-pitched like Narcissa's, or extremely low like Bellatrix's, it was right in the middle.

"You're supposed to dip it in milk, silly," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You Purebloods and your inability to grasp Muggle things." She laughed good-naturedly and I pretended to be hurt.

"And what are you?" I asked her. "Muggle Studies teacher or something? Last time I checked, you were Pureblood yourself." I split the cookie that was still in my palm in half, the chocolate chips melting onto my hand. I eyed the glass of milk with mock suspicion, but finally dunked the cookie and took a bite.

She eyed me nervously as I chewed, as if she was afraid I wouldn't like it. I swallowed and grinned. "Noelle Keller, you are a genius," I muttered before taking another bite. She laughed again took a cookie herself.

"Mmmh," she muttered with a mouthful of cookie, "They're still warm." She ended up spraying cookie crumbs everywhere, including my face, but she erupted into giggles when I wiped it with a comical look of annoyance.

"Manners, Miss Keller," I said with exaggerated arrogance. I picked up the other half of my cookie and, with my pinkie sticking out, dipped it in the milk and ate it. She rolled her eyes.

"So, your family is Pureblood, right?" I asked her a little while later when she wasn't as giggly. She swallowed a bite of cookie and cleared her throat.

"Yes, but we don't believe that people with other blood statuses are lower in class than us." I nodded slowly. It made sense, of course. I figured I wouldn't be able to grasp the concept completely, as it just wasn't the way I was brought up.

"My family is the complete opposite of yours, you could say," I muttered. "We believe that others with a clouded blood line are less worthy and…well, you can imagine how they react to half-breeds."

"But your brother Sirius isn't like that is he?" She asked. I turned my head away from her.

"No, he's not," I said. "That's why my parents hate him and he hates me. Mother and Father believe he's disgraced the family by getting in Gryffindor and he thinks I'm exactly like my parents."

"Are you?" she asked after a long pause. I glanced up at her. Gray to gray, our eyes met once again. I smiled and shook my head slightly.

"I just manage to stay on their good side." That was the end of our conversation about family ideals. We moved on to our favorite school subjects and what-not. Noelle liked Muggle-Studies and Arithmancy while I did exceptionally well at Potions and Transfiguration.

"I thought Muggle-Studies was just a blow-off class," I mused while munching on another cookie. She laughed.

"I guess taking the class is out of the question?" she joked. I rolled my eyes but smiled all the same. "People always think of Muggle-Studies as an easy class, and, in a way, it is. But for someone like me, who have never been around Muggles, it helps me to understand them better. Humans tend to fear what they don't know; that's why there's a lot of Muggle hating still around today. If Hogwarts' administration knew what was good for the students, they would make Muggle-Studies mandatory for all students."

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow," I muttered, "a bit long-winded, don't you think?" She smiled sheepishly. "My parents never took Muggle-Studies, as you can probably tell," I reminded her. "And look how they turned out: Horrible, just like the rest of my family."

She stared at me. "Regulus, I honestly thought you were exactly like your family. I never knew…" I stared back at her. Then, realizing what I had said, I tried desperately to regain my dignity. After all, I was a member of the Black family. No one of that bloodline would be caught dead eating chocolate chip cookies with a blood-traitor…no matter how delicious the cookies were. And no member of such a prestigious family would say the things I had said about them.

"I should go," I said abruptly and emotionlessly, standing up quickly and brushing away crumbs on my pants. I started to walk away, but something caught my hand. I turned to find Noelle holding my hand and keeping me in the kitchens. She had a gentle look on her face and a pleading look in her piercing grey eyes.

"Are you sure you have to go?" she asked. I took a step back at those words and walked closer to her, taking her other hand in mine.

"No," I breathed. She looked up at me for a moment, her eyes distracted. Finally, something like resolve came to my attention in them as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed me. I didn't object. "I really should go, though," I whispered after we finally broke away. She just nodded and let my hands go. She stared at the floor as I left.

I left the kitchens and nearly ran back to my dormitory, where Jeremy and my other dorm mates were already in bed, some reading, others sawing logs.

"Did you spend all that time in the kitchens?" Jeremy asked. I found that my vocal chords no longer worked so I could only nod. "Hey, are you alright, Reg?" he asked. I tried my best to wipe the stunned look off my face and nodded again.

My mind was racing. I hadn't meant to let her kiss me, it just happened. I would have to tell her, but I was afraid she would be mad at me. If my parents found out, it would be even worse. While I thought all of those things almost simultaneously, I couldn't help but think: What had I done?

_What had I done?_

**Author's Note: he, hee… whoops! *looks nervous* What can I say, I completely forgot about this until I decided to read it one more time just for kicks and I discovered I hadn't finished posting it. For those who still read this, I am so incredibly sorry! **

**Tell me what you think about this chapter. I personally think I did very well with this one! Also, I'm almost done with the third chapter of my Marauder Era fic **_Chaos, Friends, and Hogwarts: The Marauder Tales_**! It will be posted by the end of July if not sooner! **


	8. Epilogue

I didn't talk to her for nearly the rest of the year. Every now and then, our eyes would meet as they had so many times before, but we no longer talked. Noelle ended up finishing the Charms project by herself and that was that.

I didn't talk to Sirius for as long as possible, either. I couldn't seem to get over the fact that he went out of his way to make my life and others involved with it miserable. He never found out about Noelle and me, though, which was good; I don't think I would've been able to cope if he had.

It was the last day of my fourth year when Noelle and I talked.

I sat on my up turned trunk at the Hogsmead platform. At that time, I hadn't slept for weeks. The person who was killing all of the Muggles had been found. He called himself Lord Voldemort and my parents… wanted me to join his group of followers called Death Eaters, like my cousin Bellatrix has so eagerly done.

I sat on my trunk with a much different expression than those around me. Many were laughing and joking with each other. I glared at my shoes. I soon found myself, however, glaring at two pairs of shoes; one mine and the other a pair of Mary Janes. Slowly, I raised my head to find Noelle standing nervously in front of me.

"Uhm…" she stammered. "I was wondering if maybe I could write you over the summer," she said quickly. I stared up at her. After what I had done, after I hadn't talked to her for half a year, she still wanted to write me over the summer.

"Sure, if you want," I said hoarsely. She smiled at me. I tried to smile back, but my muscles were unfamiliar with the feeling.

"Are you all right?" she asked, lightly tracing the dark circles under my eyes with a finger. I nodded and pulled away from her touch. She frowned slightly and took a step back. "I—I guess I'll be going, then," she whispered. "I'll talk to you over the summer then, right?"

"Yeah." She started walking away from me. I couldn't let this happen. Not again, not like before. "Noelle!" I yelled after her and stood up abruptly. She turned around in surprise as I ran up to her. "I'm sorry," I murmured. "I'm _sorry_."

She stared at me for a minute before hugging me. "I know you are," she whispered in my ear. "I am, too."

Than she looked up at me. Grey to grey, our eyes met as they always would _until the end of time… _

**Author's note: I was debating on whether or not to complete this, but then I read all my reviews and I'm really pleased! I'm still not sure about a sequel (?) I'm working on three other fics right now, so PLEASE let me know If you'd like to see a sequel and I'll see what I can do! Gracias!**

**~Salty**


	9. Preview of Moving Forward!

It was the end of the second week of summer holiday and I hadn't heard from Noelle. I figured she didn't want to seem desperate for my conversation, but I did miss talking to someone—anyone. I even missed fighting with Sirius.

Sirius had run away the third day of the holiday. He left no note, not sign he had left except for an unnaturally tidy bedroom. I had been the first to notice Sirius was missing when I went looking for one of my Herbology textbooks in his room early one morning.

I lay on my bed, my mind almost too exhausted to stay awake, but too active to fall asleep. Sirius left me… he _forgot_ about me…he didn't care. I leaned over my bed and picked up the damned Herbology book and threw it at the wall, wishing I had never found it in his room.

It hit the wall with loud thud and slid down, a scrap of parchment fluttering out. My heart skipped a beat. I ran to the book, reaching out my hand cautiously, trying not to get my hopes up. I picked up the scrap of parchment and tuned it over…

**Author's Note: Well, due to popular demand (heehee), I've decided to make a sequel! That's part of the first chapter of it, but I decided to, ah, leave you wanting more, if you will. **

**The sequel will be called **_**Moving Forward**_** and should be published sometime this weekend, hopefully!**

**Thanks for the support! I really hope you guys will like it! Hope to see your reviews soon! ;-)**

**~Salty**


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